4. Take out two sheets of heavy duty foil and layer them on top of one another. Place springform pan on top of the foil and wrap the foil gently around the pan and up the sides. Make sure that there are no tears or holes and that the foil comes all the way up around all sides of the cake. Carefully place the foil-protected pan into the water bath in the preheated oven.

5. Bake for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 300°F. Bake for an additional 75 minutes or until the center is firm. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven for 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven. Carefully remove cheesecake from water bath and place on wire rack. Run a thin knife around the outer edge of the cheesecake. Cool on rack for a couple of hours, until the cheesecake becomes close to room temperature. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours (or overnight). Remove sides of springform pan.

6. Prepare frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth. Spread evenly on top of cheesecake. Garnish, if desired.

Tips:

*You may sub 1 1/2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs for the crushed oreos.
*You may choose to bake the cheesecake instead with no water bath. Bake at 325 for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 300 and bake for an additional 75 minutes. Let cheesecake stand in oven 30 minutes. Remove from oven; cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. (Baking without a water bath - you run the risk of cracking the top of the cheesecake).
*Some readers have indicated that there is far too much frosting for this recipe. I personally like a lot of frosting, so you can see a thick layer of frosting in the photograph. If you're not big on frosting, you can leave it off entirely or cut the frosting recipe in half.

110 Responses to “Red Velvet Cheesecake”

I made this Saturday for our Sunday dinner. It was amazing and such a big hit with my family! Thanks for this recipe.

postedAug 8, 2009 9:48 PM

Lilo

I love cheesecake and red velvet, so I just had to make this. I have been baking things such as cupcakes, brownies, and cookies for a while now, but this was my first attempt at making a cheesecake. It was perfect, no cracks at all! The only problem was that I didn’t have any long, heavy duty foil on hand, so a little water leaked in. It didn’t really affect the taste though. It was delicious, but I found myself eating the frosting more than the cake itself. Due to my past experiences with making frosting for red velvet cupcakes, I made only half of the frosting recipe. It fit the cheesecake perfectly, and double that (the original measurements) would’ve been far too much.

postedSep 12, 2009 6:23 AM

Sara

This is a great recipe, I had never heard of a red velvet cheese cake but stumbled across this recipe from a Google search. I would also recommend making about half the amount of icing, as I had way too much.

I used the water bath method as described and also had no cracks, but I must remind you, cracks don’t mean the cake is inedible! It would be still just as delicious with cracks and you probably wouldn’t even be able to tell with the cream cheese icing on top!

postedOct 27, 2009 11:04 AM

Chris

Hi Recipe Girl –

Do you use just the chocolate cookie part of the oreo or the whole oreo (including the frosting) for the base?

I made this recipe for Halloween and it was not the best cheesecake I’ve had. I made 2 other kinds of cheese cake and both came out better than this one. It is too sweet and tastes like food coloring and sugar. It did not remind me of red velvet at all. I would not recomend this one. My family ate the other 2 cheese cakes and this one ended up in the trash and a waste of time. It takes far too long to bake.

Kylie, So sorry you had a bad experience with this cheesecake. It was a big, big hit at our teacher’s luncheon- they were fighting over the pieces & they all wanted the recipe! Not sure what happened in your case.

@kelli, That’s a definite benefit of having that frosting layer on top, isn’t it 🙂

postedJan 10, 2010 10:52 AM

Dianne

I made this cheesecake during the Christmas holidays and it was a hit. I will definitely make it again.

postedFeb 15, 2010 12:38 PM

Laura

I made this for Valentine’s Day. It was beautiful and tasted SO good! I did notice that the frosting called for 3oz of cream cheese. You definitely need the whole 8oz package. Also, you don’t need that much food coloring for it to still be a beautiful dark red. All in all, I’m keeping this recipe and making it again! It may have to become a definite Heart Day tradition!

simple, rich, creamy… firm but yet smooth when it put in the mouth *drooling* lol

postedJun 10, 2010 2:44 PM

Kate

Have you seen those perfect brownie pans on tv?! Has anyone tried to make this cheesecake in one of those?! Same concept as a springform, and would be similar to mini cheesecakes…am going to try it..stay tuned! 🙂

I make cheesecakes professional for an establishment, I came aross this recipe researching new flavors and methods, I appreciated the input I got from this recipe and made it at home, turned out amazing.. I also made a raspberry melba for garnish.. Was delicious and I think colaberate something my customers will enjoy… Thanks

I recently made this for some of the girls at work. They ALL said that it was the BEST cheesecake they had EVER had!
Thanks so much recipegirl!

postedDec 16, 2010 3:27 PM

Nancy

I made this twice last year and I’ve just made it again today for a party tomorrow night . . . and I think I’ll make it again for Christmas Day. It has really been a big hit. It is super deliscous and looks amazing!!! Thanks a bunch!!

postedDec 18, 2010 12:25 PM

doc

I was excited to try the red velvet cheesecake recipe, but found the results very disappointing. The frosting was very sweet, but still pretty good, and the crust was fine, but maybe needed less melted butter, because of all of the Oreo cookie icing. The red velvet filling was pretty, but tasteless. It was certainly very red, and made a nice contrast with the dark brown crust and creamy-colored frosting. I’m not sure why it seemed to have no distinctive flavor. The cocoa was overpowered both by the chocolate cookie crust, and by the sour cream in the filling. One thing I did, that I probably should not have done, was to use Dutch processed cocoa. I am not sure how this affected the flavor, but next time I will increase the cocoa, use natural unsweetened cocoa powder, and decrease the sour cream, or replace half of it with heavy cream. I don’t know if these changes will help, but it’s probably worth one more try.

@april, Hmmm. Did you add TWO bottles of red food coloring? That’s the key. One bottle will only make it pink.

postedDec 25, 2010 3:55 PM

Sara

I made this for Christmas and I followed the directions but after it cooked the time stated it was still very soupy. I baked it probably another 30 minutes if not more and finally I took it out even though it still was not completely “firm”. I left it in the refrigerator over night and the next day when I cut into it the entire inside was melting and runny. Don’t know exactly what I did, but other than that it was pretty good.

@Sara, Runny inside is definitely an indication that the cheesecake was not done inside. Ovens and temps vary but not sure why yours didn’t seem to cook enough after an additional 30 minutes. I’m stumped!

postedDec 27, 2010 8:04 AM

Ariane

i made this for our christmas dessert and it was SO good. everyone loved it!

i took the lazy way out and did not use a waterbath, i figured any cracks would be covered covered by the frosting. oooh my did it crack! it looked totally fine once i added the frosting, but i would definitely suggest using the waterbath.

I love this recipe it was a hit at christmas at my house and I am here 3 days after christmas making another to deliver to relatives that didnt get to try it…I will be delivering slices this after noon. I think the frosting was a little added bonus. Thanks so much.

postedJan 20, 2011 1:36 PM

Kim

I’ve made a number of different cheesecakes and they always say to bake the crust first. This one didn’t say to bake it first. Is that correct?

@Lori Lange, Thank you so much! I’m going to try it for Valentine’s Day!

postedJan 30, 2011 2:04 PM

mavrick

I really enjoyed this cheese cake, Everyone at the birthday party like and was amazed there was no cracks in the top. I ended up using a 10 inch round cake pan to keep the water out of spring pan.

postedMay 30, 2011 2:37 PM

nandita

I had a question.. i have made ny style cheesecake before.. in that i used baked the frosting for 15 mins with the cake and cooled everything together overnight. But in this, thr frosting is put right before serving? Does it taste okay if we put freshly prepared frosting ..?

This is a wonderful and fun recipe. Everyone loved it and was great fun to do and present. I recommend this!

postedJul 9, 2011 12:07 PM

laura deth

What should I do if I make my filling too runny? I’m prone to make things too runny especially cheesecake. I’m attempting to make this one tomorrow and I’m scared I’m going to make it runny. What should I do if I do?

hi, my cheesecake is in the oven right now so fingers crossed =) i just was looking at other websites as well and i was wonderin if anybody had trouble with removing the cake from the springfoam pan? some websites asked to line the bottom with parchment paper and to grease the sides but i didnt.. will i have some trouble with taking if off the pan?

I’m probably too late in answering your question. Putting parchment on the bottom certainly helps. How did it work out for you?

postedNov 21, 2011 1:41 PM

Kayla

Would it be possible to seprate the batter half and half, only make half red velvet and the other half plain? Then pour red velvet over the plain and then bake it. Do you think it would run together or stay seprate? Thank you!

Hard to say since I haven’t tried it that way. I would guess that if you were very careful about gentle swirling, it might be okay.

postedDec 1, 2011 9:38 AM

Jean

Making it for my husbands birthday since cheesecake and red velvet are his favorites. I split the cheesecake batter and did only half with the red color and cocoa and then swirled them together. It is very pretty and seems to work just fine.

postedDec 14, 2011 2:49 PM

Chris

I understand oven time/temps vary, but mine is STILL cooking and the center isn’t firm and it’s been 2.5 hours. Maybe the oven should be hotter? I didn’t do the water bath, but I don’t think that would make a difference. Maybe I’m wrong. We’ll see how it turns out!

oohh ok. i missed the springform part :/ oh well, we will see how this turns out!

postedJan 5, 2012 10:16 AM

BLC

I made this for our family gathering at Christmas. My daughter in law had been after me for several months to make a red velvet cheesecake. This turned out fabulous. I believe the water bath helped to make the cheesecake extra moist and I had a number of people almost fighting over the last piece.
My wife is giving a baby shower later this month for her cousing and they want me to fix this for the baby shower only substituting blue food coloring for the red (she is having a boy). Do you see any problems with making the cake blue?

I had that problem recently with another cheesecake I made recently and ended up adding two tablespoons of flour to the cheesecake batter the next time and it turned out perfect. I’m going to try that the next time I make this one too!

postedFeb 11, 2012 7:14 AM

Lucinda Hightower

Made this yesterday, it is awesome. You get the best of two worlds, a red velvet cake and cheesecake. My dinner guests loved it.

postedFeb 15, 2012 5:20 PM

Irene

I am making this cheesecake right now! Ohy vey! It’s beautiful! I substituted the frosting for whipped cream!

postedFeb 22, 2012 4:53 PM

vanessa

Dear Recipe Girl: Can you substitute fat free cream cheese in this recipe to make it have less calories/fat? Will it turn out as good?

I made this yesterday for a family party today. It was my first attempt at making cheesecake, and I was AMAZED at how good it is! This will definitely become one of those things that I take to family functions on a regular basis.

postedMay 12, 2012 2:17 PM

alyssa

I just made this for mother’s day tomorrow and it seems my crust is not a crust but a soggy mush. Isn’t it suppose to be crisp? This is my first cheesecake ever and I didn’t see yo be bake the crust. Was I suppose to?

no, you don’t bake the crust. Did you place it in a water bath? Sounds like it wasn’t sealed well enough to keep the water from coming into the pan…

postedMay 12, 2012 2:31 PM

alyssa

I wrapped it in three layers of foil because I was afraid of the water. There was a little in the foil when cake was cool enough to remove. I just read that you don’t have to place the cake in the water but can have a pan of water on the rack under the cake to prevent it cracking. Have you tried this? I think I will next time because this one is shot!

postedJun 9, 2012 9:00 PM

sam

Made this tonight-it was good. I followed the directions exactly and after adding the 4th egg the batter got really thin. Is this how the batter should be?

Turned out amazing! I made one cheesecake for us and the other I sold it to a coworker for for her and her family to enjoy on Tuesday. Such a beautiful cheesecake. I WILL MAKE IT AGAIN! Thank you so much for this recipe.

postedOct 9, 2012 5:07 PM

Sarah

Do we have to use unsweetened cocoa is there a subsitute
And how do you make cheesecake batter lol

Yes, use unsweetened cocoa. Not sure I understand the next question… follow the recipe!

postedOct 17, 2012 7:13 PM

Diana Blood

I made the Red Velvet cheesecake cake it was delicious but I would like to just make an 8 or 9 inch cheesecake with that same recipe without the cake, how can I do that with amounts and bake times? Thank You so much for the great recipe!!!

Hi Diana, this may not be a good recipe for you to use to make a regular cheesecake as this one only makes a half cheesecake (to go inside the cake).

postedNov 21, 2012 11:02 AM

Andie

having made a few cheesecakes, this is a great recipe. my only advice is instead of placing the cakepan directly in the water bath, put a pan with about an inch of water in it on the lowest rack of the oven. same effect of the waterbath, but no worry of leakage!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m going to try this next time to see if I have success with this method. Thanks!

postedNov 22, 2012 11:54 AM

Dee Huffman

Sounds like its going to be fabulous. My girlfriend told me about this last year but her recipe involved making two cakes and putting cheesecake between red velvet. I am sorry I found this today, Thanksgiving. But I will make one tomorrow to practice for our Christmas gathering. I’m the resident baker. Happy Holidays and thanks so much! Dee

postedNov 29, 2012 7:57 PM

Sayo

My attempt at this delicious-looking cheesecake is currently cooling ready for the fridge before it is unveiled at my first ever solo early-Christmas dinner party tomorrow. So far so good! It looks amazing except one teeny weeny thing…it’s not red! So it turns out, over here in England, our red food colouring is a weakling compared to its American counterpart because after emptying 2 larger bottles of the stuff (1.3oz each!) the cheesecake is, at best a …deep purple-y brown. This is kind of my luck with first-time recipes though but thought I would share the issue just in case any other Brits try this recipe out – Be warned! (Lori, is there a stronger type of colouring that could be used?).
Anyways, thanks for the recipe and I am definitely looking forward to my Purple Velvet Cheeesecake 🙂

oh nooooo! There is a color gel that you can get in the states that is more concentrated than the liquid drops. Perhaps you have access to something like that?

postedDec 5, 2012 10:11 PM

cynthia a. rosales

After spreading the frosting, can I put blueberries, so it will be….RED VELVET BLUEBERRY CHEESE CAKE? Thanks

postedDec 9, 2012 8:42 AM

Heather

I was wondering, can this be made into a mini cheesecake form? I just got a mini springform pan with 12 slots and I thought it would be cute to make mini’s on a platter for Christmas. Also, is there a way to use a NY Style Recipe, but use certain ingredients to make it red velvet? If so, what is essential to use? Thanks!!

Made this for our Christmas Celebration and it was a HUGE hit. Thank you so much for sharing!! An alternative to the water bath that I’ve been doing for years is to put a large glass bowl full of water on the bottom rack of the oven. Helps keep moisture in the oven, similar to the water bath, without the hassle.

postedDec 29, 2012 6:43 AM

Miss Tori

Lori, if I substitute gel food coloring for the liquid food coloring (which would require less), do I need to add additional liquid to make up for the reduction of two ounces (quarter cup) of liquid food coloring?

Hi I am from Kuwait. There was a local baking competition, and i decided to made this cheesecake recipe. You know what, I actually won! I won a Samsung S3. I couldn’t believe it. Everyone said It’s perfect. Decadent. Delicious. Delectable. Personally there is not a thing I would change about this recipe. I only a different decoration, bu that was it. Btw, my cheesecake had no cracks also. You can see my photos here: http://ibakeq8.blogspot.com/2012/12/celebrating-wataniya-telecom-birthday.html

I came across this recipe on Pinterest, and I compared to Food Networks, ultimately this seemed like the better recipe(they don’t have you add sour cream or buttermilk, and the good recipes ask for those). My husband saw the photo and immediately wanted that cake for his Birthday . I added just an extra half a tsp of cocoa(to humor my husband), and I was too lazy to buy red food coloring so I only used .25 ounces (Walmart brand too), but it still came out pretty red velvet looking. As for the water bath(I wanted to do one because the last cheesecake I made sank a little), I didn’t have a roasting pan, but after talking to my best friend, she said her dad would just put a 9×13 casserole dish of water on the bottom rock. So I did that, and put the cheesecake on the middle rack. It came out so perfect!

I read somewhere that the difference between dense cheese cake and fluffy cheese cake is that the fluffy cheese cake has flour added to it. My question to you is : Is this a very dense cheese cake and how much flour to make it fluffy?

I don’t know- prob more dense since it can withstand being between cake layers. I wouldn’t know how to modify it to make it lighter.

postedDec 25, 2013 7:46 PM

Erin Owen

I made this tonight! It was awesome and received a lot
Of compliments. I actually made the cake
Yesterday and iced it today. I doubled the icing recipe slapped a crumb
Coat on all over sides and top and chilled
For about an hour and then finished icing. It had a small
Amount of icing left but I definitely needed the
Doubled amount to cover the whole cake.

postedDec 29, 2013 8:47 PM

Jill Pitts

This was a huge hit, made for my daughter in law’s birthday. Did have to bake for 45 ADDITIONAL minutes though and yes, I do have an oven thermometer which read correctly. Not sure why….. but who cares now that I know how long to bake it. May
use the 2 Tbsp flour mentioned in an earlier post, next time and use the non emersed water bath method.
THANKS!

postedMar 18, 2014 8:12 PM

Stephanie

Did u spray/butter the sides of the pan where there is no crust? I’m nervous about cooking a cheesecake without crust all around it.

Hi Lori. Beautiful cheesecake! I would like to try this recipe, however, I don’t use food coloring, I use Red Velvet Emulsion. Would it be ok to try this recipe, minus the buttermilk and vinegar if I’m NOT using food coloring? Thank you!

I’m not sure as I’m not familiar with that product. Are there some kind of instructions with it (or on the internet somewhere) on how to sub that product?

postedNov 3, 2015 11:29 AM

Lissette

This cheesecake is very versatile for events. I made it for my friends halloween party and it was a bloody good cheesecake! All of my friends loved it. The only thing I would do differently next time is increase the cookie crumbs, bake it before adding the base so it could gain a nice crisp and add more of coco powder so it can truly resemble a red velvet cake. Also, I did use a buttercream cheesecake frosting instead of yours, not saying it didn’t come out great but next time I’ll try yours since mine was lacking a cream cheese taste not to mention it called for 4 cups of powered sugar, yikes (I only used 2 you really don’t need that much sugar)! Anyways, thanks for this recipe the cheesecake was incredibly rich yet creamy enough that it melts into your mouth!!! YUM.